Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” John 7:16-19
“Practice makes perfect”, they say. Oh how I wish it were not true, but no human is excellent at something without working on it. The same is true for our spiritual walk. No, we can’t earn God’s love or extra brownie points, but we can get better at living in His (aka, They) way.
If you have been paying attention, the book of John repeats themes over and over. One of those themes is that Jesus doesn’t work alone. Over and over again Jesus wants us to know that he is a man under authority. Why is that so important? Well, it gives credibility to what he says next in this text, namely, “anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God….” In other words, if you put yourself under the same authority as Jesus, you will know that Jesus is telling the truth. Jesus isn’t interested in people who make correct affirmations of theology. Jesus isn’t interested in proper social alignments. What he is interested in is that his Fathers’ will actually makes its way into our lives. Why? Well that is the real miracle. The way of the Father is the best way of being human. The only problem is, we can’t benefit from that way, unless we live it rather than just think it.
Perhaps this week, try applying the teachings of Jesus more than consuming new ones. Ask the father for one simple truth that he wants you to live and experiment with. Ask for his help to obey it. Try a few different approaches to obey his way and see if what Jesus says here comes true. Maybe, just maybe, you will come to know that Jesus is from God. Maybe you will see that the way of Jesus is true and right.
by Aaron Bjorklund
